Tales from Swordbearer
by Arkaidy
Summary: A collection of stories written by the participants of the Swordbearer Mailinglist, based on the AU by the same name.
1. Backdrop

Tales from Swordbearer

Based on the AU created by Vega

Standard Disclaimers Apply. All recognizable "Highlander" characters and concepts are property of Rysher Entertainment. The "Swordbearer" universe and all related concepts are property of Vega © 2005. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only, and no profit is being derived from it.

"Backdrop"

* * *

by March of the year 2005, FBI agent Harold G. Myers is shot between the eyes. Upon delivery of the corpse to the morgue at the Pentagon - a short stop over between the site of death and the hometown where the bachelor was to be buried - Agent Myers proceeds to sit up, apologize profusely to the resident pathologist for startling him, and begs the doctor not to tell'. 

Unaware of the surveillance camera that captures the event, Myers goes on to explain to the startled mortician that he is in fact a human being with a specific genetic defect, known to his kind only as "An Immortal". Myers, due to some freak sequencing of his genetic structure, has an immune system so efficient that his body is in a perpetual state of renewal, rather than the mortal state of perpetual decay.

Myers professes to being over three hundred years old. The pathologist swears to secrecy and aids Myers in his escape. He is arrested three days later.

In April, the Federal Bureau of Investigations captures the fugitive Agent Myers and submits him to extensive interrogations and testing, resulting in the accidental permanent' death of Myers upon decapitation, and the destruction of most of the information gathered on Immortality in the resulting backlash of energy bombardments that surge from the body of Myers and rip through the compound.

Before the FBI can repair the lab and uncover more test subjects, a secret international society known as the "Watchers" come forward and reveal their extensive tomes of research and libraries to the United States Government. All testing on Immortals ceases within legal circles.

The next four months are spent in secret talks with the major political figureheads of all the countries of the world, and this mysterious "Watchers" organization. No information on the discussions themselves is revealed to the mass media.

In August of 2005, the United Nations releases an official statement to the world: There Are Immortals Among Us.

Believing that this new era of multimedia and informations technology is straining the survival of the Immortal Species, the Watchers oust themselves and their subjects. Specific names and information is not distributed, although the chronicles of deceased Immortals do become available in published novel form. Many history text books are re-written.

The backlash is minimal. Several religious groups oppose the existence of Immortals and there are witch hunts in several major cities and some remote countries. The United Nations declare Immortals 'Human Beings' under the law and any formal persecution is ceased.

A disturbingly high rate of violent suicides follow, as mortals attempt to trigger their latent Immortality - less than 2 actually become Immortal. Before laws are required to keep this in check, the pattern dies away.

Immortals who do not approve of their new public personas either arrange for friends to decapitate them, or find ways of releasing their own Quickenings. Immortals with extensive criminal records are hunted by the law and turned over to the Watchers, who then select suitable vessels to receive their Quickenings.

The Game continues, although many Immortals no longer feel the need to participate.

An 'International Immortal Government' is formed in January of 2006, and in March of that same year, all Immortals are issued "Identification of Immortal Status" cards. These cards act as Age of Majority Cards for Immortals who appear younger than they are, and allow Immortals who had been hiding behind mountains of falsified documents to reclaim their original identities, and in some cases, fortunes. A small cut on the thumb is required as proof of Immortality for those skeptical of the Card's verity - for this reason, very few Fake Immortal Ids are employed by teenagers.

One Duncan McLeod, an Immortal of approximately four hundred years, becomes Avatar of Brotherhood between Immortal and Mortal Humans. Universities all over the world begin to seek out Immortals to teach their History and Language classes. Sword-smith shops spring up in all the major cities.

March 26th, the day of the True Death of Harold G. Myers is declared an International Holiday.

Guidelines for Appropriate Challenges are issued in June of 2006 as the number of deaths by electrocution rise alarmingly when mortals attempt to witness battles in The Game. Formal Combat Areas are established in most major cities to keep watching Mortals at a safe distance.

Violent crimes rise in many North American cities as Mortals posing as Immortals utilize blades to commit robberies, muggings, etc.

To counter act this rise in crime, in October of 2006 a law is passed by the United Nations requiring all weaponry must be worn on in plain sight, and may only be carried by Card-Carrying Immortals. At first there is opposition to this. One Adam Pierson, an Immortal of approximately seventy five years of age, citing the lynches of the previous year, lobbies that the Visible Weaponry Law would make Immortals targets to Hate Groups.

Punishments regarding Racist Crimes are increased, and Pierson backs down.

As of midnight, October 17th, 2006, all Immortals must wear their weaponry in plain sight. Failure to do so will result in a five year prison term.


	2. VWL

Tales from Swordbearer

_Based on the AU created by Vega_

"VWL"  
by CrystalSaturn

* * *

My name is John Constaint. I am a 13 year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department, Major Crimes division, and I am immortal.

'They're all going to kill me,' was his only thought as he made his way through the police department's main hallway. People whom he had taken breaks with, dodged bullets for, had known for years, stared at him in shock. Word of his new accessory had obviously traveled, because his boss was already standing at the door to the Major Crimes department's main room. He did not look happy. 'In fact, that twitch seems to have come back,' John thought distantly.

As soon as John reached the door, his boss, without a word, turned and swept into his own office, the door to it being left open in silent invitation. John went in. The closing of the door almost, but not quite, muffled the sudden whispers that broke out among the occupants of the main room. Oddly, it seemed like not a single one of the people here had noticed that before today, he had a sword hidden under his coat. Definitely not his boss, Harrold Sanders, who seemed to have composed himself behind his desk, apart from the twitch.

"I don't have to tell you that it is now illegal for a non-immortal to wear a sword," Sanders stated simply. He didn't. The sheer number of seminars and training those in all major police departments had received was a bit much. The politicians still seemed a bit paranoid about immortals. A bit of time had passed with no other talk from his boss, so he went ahead and answered, "No Sir." John also took out his "Identification of Immortal Status Card" and cut himself on the back of his hand, showing both to his boss.

"I won't ask you why you've stayed silent all this time," his boss told him, "We all know how people are reacting to immortals, but it would have been nice of you to warn me first!" Here, he started glaring. "Your lucky it would be seen as racist to suspend you, but for now on, we're USING your un-dying immortal finding ass, got it? Now get out there explain this to your fellow officers, because I sure don't want to hear it right now."

He almost let out a sigh of relief as he left the office, but froze instead, looking upon the dead silent room. 'Well, it's not like I didn't know this would happen'

"Hello, my name is John Constaint, and I am Immortal..."


	3. Children

Tales from Swordbearer

Based on the AU created by Vega

"Children"  
by Lydia

wolflucky at yahoo.ca

_Oneshot

* * *

_

The thing about humanity is that we can be unspeakably cruel when it comes to something we don't understand or something that is different from us.

However, as we grow, we can be taught to suppress the hate we may feel to things we don't understand, or we can grow to accept that we do not understand. Growing. It takes time. Children are not given time. They want to grow up as fast as they can because children, in their eyes and in some of ours, cannot  
do anything. They can, however, act on instinct and imitate that which they see. Surprisingly, yet not, children can be unremarkably cruel.

When the UN stated to the world that There are Immortals among us", the world reacted. People acted out, whether it was in hate or jealousy, they acted out against themselves and others. There were groups of people who declared Immortals to be inhuman, so called witch-hunts went on in search for the abominations. There were others who acted out in the sense of killing themselves, in hopes of activating the Immortality gene. Laws were passed however in order to stop the actions that did not fade away. But even laws can't stop everything all the time. And children are always watching.

In a southern state of the U.S.A, there was a small, quiet town where almost nothing exciting ever happened. In this town, everyone knew everything about each other and everyone went to church every Sunday. They were all good Catholics. They were not open to any newcomers to their town, which was exactly what Sharon Montgomery and her daughter Sandy were.

Sandy was a rather odd little girl. She enjoyed books more than playing with the other children, which at put her at odds with them. She was a reserved child who took after her mother when she tried to see the good in everyone. She never went to church with all the other children as her mother didn't believe in the religion but instead decided she would let Sandy choose whatever religious path Sandy wanted to when she was older.

Another thing about Sandy, which made her different from the other kids, is that Sandy would not often get hurt by things that would hurt the other children. A child in her school once witnessed Sandy fall down a narrow flight of stairs and merely walk away from it without any outward damage. The children of the school never let Sandy forget about how much more different she was. Sandy tried to not care, listening to her mother when she said that the others were merely jealous.

Sandy tried to ignore the whispers that she heard from the parents of the other children about her mother. There were mentions of the fact that Sharon was a single mother and was not religious. The other parents did not like the idea of Sandy being at school with their children as she could give them ideas. Due to their parent's warnings, the other children never went near Sandy.

When word spread across the world that Immortals were real, actions against them were televised and shown on the news. Children watched along side their parents and listened as their parents ranted and raved about the "freaks of nature" and about how they were the Devil's work and not right in the eyes of God. As if they knew all about their God. They did not seem to know though that their children were listening and watching and linking, as children's minds do, the events to the strange girl at their school.

On October the 14, 2005 Sharon reported Sandy missing.

The parents of the other children blamed Sharon for not being a proper mother and looking after her child. On October 16, 2005, the body of Sandy Montgomery was found in an alleyway behind the only  
hardware store in the town. Her body was found, curled into a corner surrounded by rocks. She was reported to having been beaten to death by the rocks on the scene. When Sharon asked around about the death of her daughter, no one had any answers until a little boy spoke up.

"She was so weird! We didn't mean to hurt her, we swear! We thought she'd get back up! She always got back up before so we figured she was like on TV."

Sharon demanded to know what they had done to her daughter, but the parents protected their children and blamed Sharon for being unfit to be a mother in the first place. Sharon left the town and buried Sandy's body elsewhere, away from the children who had tormented her.

The incident never reached national news and very few ever heard of the small girl named Sandy who had been killed by the children who merely followed and then went further in their parent's footsteps.

THE END


End file.
